


The New Hope

by Purebloodgodess



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alex Manes Deserves Nice Things, Fix-It of Sorts, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29668041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purebloodgodess/pseuds/Purebloodgodess
Summary: This story takes place right after S2E2.Unwilling to deal with Michael and Maria, Alex takes off to shut down Project Shepherd without telling the gang. When they finally notice, the real extent of Michael and Alex's relationship is reveled.
Relationships: Light Maria Deluca/ Michael Guerin, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 10
Kudos: 77





	The New Hope

“No, I don’t think we should be working together. … I like Maria okay? I like being around her.” Those words kept circling around Alex’s head as he laid in bed. And each time they cut a little deeper. He didn’t lie to Michael when he said he got it, he did. But it didn’t make it hurt any less. Maybe if it was someone else it wouldn’t cut so deep. 

Maybe if he didn’t know how great Maria was, how beautiful, caring, and light she was. He would be able to compare them and think Michael was making a mistake. That he would be the better option. But he knew better. Alex Manes would never be the better option. 

He had hoped all those months ago that this would finally be their time. That he and Michael could finally make a real go of it, but he had screwed it up again. He had let his father and his insecurities get in the way, and he squandered his last chance.

The Air Force had toughened him up. It had set him free of his father’s control and made him be brave enough to run through enemy fire to save a fallen comrade. It had tested his inner strength as he came to terms with losing his leg and learning to walk again. But none of that mattered when he got back to Roswell. He turned right back into that scared, insecure 17 year-old that left. 

He had been scared that Michael wouldn’t be able to accept him with his disability. Not in the long run. Which opened him up to his father’s criticism and homophobia. Once those floodgates opened he couldn’t stop the wave of destruction, and now he was alone in bed replaying Michael’s parting words and choking back the tears. 

He knew once he started, it would open the door to all of the emotions he had been stubbornly pushing to the back while he hung on to the little scrap of hope called friendship. 

If Michael didn’t want to be with him then he would settle for friendship. He would get to know Michael as a friend and then maybe he would see that Alex was worth it. That he wasn’t like the rest of his family. That he could be good for Michael instead of hurting him. That he wasn’t scared anymore and he wasn’t going to run away. He was ready to stay. That their love was cosmic. Michael said he never looked away and Alex had hoped he would see the changes and give him another chance. 

But the plan wasn’t working out. Michael couldn’t stand to be around him and rejected any overtures at friendship. The very sight of him seemed to piss Michael off. Even when he was putting his career on the line to help save Max, he was still treated like the bad guy. And after tonight, his raft of hope had been chipped down to a life jacket. 

The vibrating of his phone pulled him from his emotional hurricane. There was a message from Kyle. Please don’t let this be another crisis he thought. It was 2 am and he just wanted to wallow in bed. Opening up the message he saw it was a picture with the caption “What’s going on?”. 

Alex had to click on the picture to make it full screen before he understood what he was seeing. Michael had moved his airstream into the parking lot of the Wild Pony. In front of it stood Michael with his arms around Maria. 

“ I like Maria okay? I like being around her.” 

***********

Alex sat outside the office of Colonel Felix Grayfold and went over what he was going to say one last time. Grayfold had been his CO during his first tour. He helped Alex break his father’s chains and showed him how he could build a life for himself within the Air Force. 

Ten years later Captain Alex Manes was proud of what he had accomplished and who he had become. He was someone who could find and track secret government agencies that would go after his friends if they were found out. He could provide a secret laboratory for his friends to do questionable alien experiments in. He was about to expose his family’s crimes and hopefully dismantle a government agency that had been committing war crimes for the past 70 years. Alex had come a long way from that reluctant 17 year old recruit. 

Grayfold had proven himself to be an honorable man in the past and the father figure Alex desperately needed at the time. Alex hoped that was still true. He needed the help of someone higher up in the chain of command to help him find every last branch of Project Shepherd and shut it down. But as much as he wanted to trust Grayfold, he would never put Michael, and by extension Max and Isobel, in danger and leave their safety up to chance. He had scrubbed every mention of the three and Nora from the file he was about to hand over to the Colonel. 

The information from Caulfield was enough to put everyone involved behind bars and Jesse Manes was no exception. Alex would consider his Air Force career a success if he got his father court martialed. Caulfied would also jump start an investigation into Project Shepherd and allow them to track down the other branches. 

Alex had climbed onto this new raft after almost drowning the night Michael moved into the parking lot of the Wild Pony.

******* 

“Sorry i’m late guys.” Kyle said as he looked for a spot to sit. Liz had called a last minute “I know an alien” meeting at Max’s house a few hours ago. 

“My last patient ended up needing stitches and well, duty calls.” He said with a shrug as he sat down on the arm of the couch next to Rosa.

“No you’re just in time. We just confirmed that nobody has heard from Alex in four days. I swung by his place before coming here and nobody was home. I tried to call the Air base but he wasn’t there either.” Liz explained.

“So nobody has seen or heard from Alex in four days and you’re just now getting worried? Good to know if I go missing I shouldn’t expect a timely rescue” Kyle sneered to the surprised group. 

“What the hell Kyle?” Liz yelled getting defensive. “We have all been busy dealing with the Max situation and Alex isn’t always around. I’ve been trying to reach him since yesterday and when I didn’t hear back I realized something was wrong. Now stop being an ass and help us figure out what might have happened to him.”

“Well, I don’t need to figure out what happened. Alex told me he was going to be out of town for a few days and might be out of contact during that time.” Kyle answered with a raised eyebrow. 

“See, soldier boy is just fine. Now can we please get back to our regularly scheduled lives.” Michael said standing up and reaching down for Maria’s hand.

“Why would Alex tell only you that he was going out of town? And why would he leave with everything going on?” Liz questioned Kyle while shooting Michael a disapproving look. 

“Since when are you and Alex so close?” Maria asked right after, pulling Michael back down to the cough. 

“We’ve been bonding over our father’s war crimes and trying to take down Jesse Manes and Project Shepherd over the last few months. He told me, because I’m the only person he talks to regularly, isn’t going crazy trying to Frankenstein Max, or sleeping with my current something.” Kyle hadn’t been this douchy in years but it was nice to use that side of himself for good. Especially since Alex had been his main target in high school. Kyle was more than happy to dust off that hat and go to bat for Alex now.

“What?” echoed around the room with a “current something?” quietly asked next to him.

Looking down at Rose he explained, “Current something or some is what we call a person that you’re talking to or almost in a relationship with.”

Rosa nodded her head as she considered this new slang. 

“We are not in any kind of relationship!” Michael said outraged. While Isobel tried to hold in her laughter.

“Alex and Michael have been over for ages.” Liz explained in that condescending tone she got when she knew she was in the wrong.

“Alex told me he and Michael happened a long time ago.” Maria followed up with her face in a stubborn set. “He and Michael are over.”

“If by ages ago you mean a few months, then yes, they haven’t been together in ages. Of course they are SUPER over. That explains why Guerin gets all emotional or hightails it whenever Alex is brought up. I may have only cleared the air with Alex a little while ago, but if bro code and girl code don’t allow you to date an ex, I’m pretty sure gay best friend code doesn’t allow it either.” And the crowd goes wild! Judging by the faces across the room what was a home run. 

“Maria! Did you knowingly go after Alex’s ex?” Rosa asked angrily on behalf of a boy she once considered a little brother. 

“I didn’t go after him” Maria said lamely “it just happened.”

“What? You slipped and fell on his dick?” Rosa shot back. That seemed to be too much for Isobel who broke out snorting with laughter.

Rosa looked pleased with the reaction until she remembered she was still mad at the blond. 

Maria's face became pained at the discovery of this new timeline and walked out of the house. Guerin watched her go unsure if he should follow her. That was until a pissed off Liz threw her pizza crust at him and hissed “Go after her idiota”. 

Taking a deep breath she turned to Kyle, “So how much do you know about Michael and Alex?” 

*********

Michael sat outside his airstream drinking a beer and wishing one of their alien powers was to turn back time. Other than saving his mother and the rest of the aliens, and telling Isobel the truth about Rosa, he wasn’t sure what else he would change. Well, maybe he would fix that whole Noah situation since so many people got hurt, but within his own life, he wasn’t sure what he would change. 

He would definitely still kiss Alex and he didn’t regret their first time, but maybe he would take him somewhere Jesse Manes couldn’t find them. If Alex still enlisted he would make sure to be around to say goodbye. Maybe set up some way to contact him. 

He didn’t regret any of their spontaneous meetings over the years. But if he could go back he would enjoy the time he had with him. He wouldn’t lash out when it was time for Alex to go. He would make it clear to Alex that he would be here waiting for him when he was ready. For once, he would let them part on amicable terms. 

Especially the last time they met before the reunion. If he hadn’t lashed out at the end, but let Alex know that he loved him, maybe Alex would have reached out while he was in the hospital. Maybe he could have been there for him while he dealt with the reality of losing a limb. 

That night at the cabin he unloaded all of his pain onto Alex when he wasn’t the only one at fault for the state of their relationship. Alex might push and pull but Michael was his dance partner who never missed a beat. 

Going off on Alex and declaring his intention to move on with Maria had felt good at the time, but two week later gave him a bit of perspective. He had trivialized their “something”, or whatever the fuck Kyle was calling it, to Maria. He hadn’t wanted to try to explain how complicated it was with Alex to another person. 

Hell, he didn’t want to think about Alex period. He just wanted a break from all of the emotions that were attached to thinking about Alex. So he decided to go after Alex’s best friend because she was light, fun, and he could admit it to himself at least, familiar. She reminded him of a boy he once knew who was quirky, bold, caring, and a safe haven from the disaster he called life. 

So there were a few things he would change with Alex if he could. However, if he could only go back a few hours with Maria he would fix the fight they had. Actually a few hours wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Maybe if he had tried to explain what he had with Alex without Kyle’s prompting it might have gone a little better. But he was pretty sure she would have still been hurt. 

Yep, if he wasn’t currently banned from the Wild Pony he would be halfway through a bottle of vodka and rearing to lay out the first loudmouth idiot to cross his path. Instead, he was stuck in a lawn chair outside of his trailer thinking about how his current something was pissed off about his former something.

Fuck Kyle and his stupid slang! 

*****  
Eight days later Michael could say that his situation had gotten a little better. Sure he was now down a brother, a lover, and a girlfriend but at least he was able to drown his sorrows at his favorite bar again. 

Maria had broken up with him after an awkward (on his part) and angry (Maria’s) discussion about his relationship with Alex and how he felt about him. If he cared less about her he might have considered lying, but after the last few months he couldn’t bring himself to be so selfish. 

Three days later, after he had sent off his last customer, he found a short message on his phone from Maria. She was ready to see him again as long as he promised to stay in the back of the bar and not get into it with the other customers. 

Michael had taken her up on her offer that night and had spent the last three quietly drinking in the corner trying to figure out how to fix the mess his life had become. 

The ringing of his phone was a welcome distraction from his misery. 

“What do you want Valenti?”

“Michael! You have to get to the hospital. Alex was just taken into surgery.” Kyle rushed out sounding stressed.

“What are you talking about? What happened?”

“I don’t know. Alex and Flint were both brought in 20 minutes ago for gunshot wounds. The soldiers that brought them in said the hospital was closer than the base. I’ll try to find out more, but you need to get down here. Alex has you listed as his power of attorney.”

“Yah, i’m on my way.” Michael said standing up and grabbing his coat. “Have you told the others yet?”

“No, you 're the first person I called. As his power of attorney you need to be here to help make medical decisions.”

“Ok, start calling the others, I'll grab Maria.” He instructed as he flagged Maria over.

“I’ll call the girls and then see if I can find out what happened .” Kyle said, ending the call as Maria walked up. Michael started herding her towards the door explaining that Alex had been hurt and they needed to get to the hospital.

*******

The waiting room outside of the OR was filled with a mix of aliens and humans all worried about the same person. Alex had been in surgery for four hours and the last Kyle checked from the observation room, things were going well. 

The news didn’t do much to calm Michael down. He felt like he hadn’t taken a breath since Kyle had called him. Michael would have been a mess even if Max had been sitting next to him. But with no alien plan b to save Alex, he was quietly losing his mind.

Michael had imagined similar situations over the years while Alex was off to war, but the reality was much worse. The feeling of helplessness crawled under his skin making his fidget. He kept switching between bouncing his knees and picking at the skin around his nails until Isobel stopped him and he moved on to the other.

The whole situation was like some nightmare fever dream. From the information Kyle was able to piece together, Alex had gotten into an altercation with his brother and father that had left Flint and Alex wounded and Jesse dead. 

The monster from the shed was dead but the brave prince had been mortally wounded in the process. His knight in shining armor was off drinking his sorrows away instead of backing him up. Now said knight sat picking at his thumbs and praying to a god he didn’t believe in on the off chance he was wrong. 

_God please give us one more chance. I promise not to mess it up this time. I promise to be brave and patient with him. I promise to be the man he deserves._

*****

Michael’s sleeping beauty laid before him hooked up to wires and tubes. But he was alive. He had survived the surgery and would wake up. Michael would get his third chance.

The others had left for their beds shortly after seeing Alex put into a private room to recover. Michael was urged to go home as well but he wouldn’t budge. It didn’t matter that the Air Force had stationed a guard outside of the room. Michael couldn’t leave Alex unprotected and wanted to start off his third shot right. 

Alex would wake up to the knowledge that Michael had stayed by his side. That Michael cared and was going to be choosing Alex from now on. He had gotten distracted for a bit but he was back on track and looking at Alex again. Now he just needed Alex to open his eyes and see him.

*****  
Michael woke up to the sound of low murmurs. The quiet voice of a woman…. and Alex! 

His eyes opened to the sight of Alex awake and talking to a nurse. Seeing Alex was awake and responsive lifted a weight he didn’t even realize had settled on him. Things were going to be ok.

As soon as the nurse turned to leave he was up and approaching the bed. 

“You’re awake.” Alex said, noticing him.

“I think that’s my line.” Michael said with a soft smile. “How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?”

“I’m fine. They gave me this fun little button to push when I start feeling anything close to human. Are you the only one here?”

“Yah, the others left to get some rest after you came out of surgery. They will be back later.”

“But you stayed?”

“Yes, I … I didn’t want you to wake up alone. I didn’t want … no, I wanted to be the first person you saw.” Michael admitted. He was going to be brave and do this right.

“I almost lost you Alex! You were missing for days and I almost lost you!” The emotions poured out of Michaels mouth and eyes. This wasn’t the time to hold back. He needed Alex to know that he cared, and believe him when he said he chose him.

“Come here Michael.” 

Michael sat on the edge of the bed and fell into Alex’s arms breaking down. “I love you Alex and I'm done looking away.”

Alex tightened his hold and ran his hand comfortingly down his back and threw his curls. “Shu, it’s ok. I’m here. I got you. I’m safe” Alex whispered in his ear over and over placing little kisses on his head until he calmed down.

This was why he stayed. They were going to do it right this time. Alex wasn’t pushing him away. Michael was right where he wanted to be, held in Alex’s strong embrace.


End file.
